Friday Update: Week 45/2015, Introducing the English

The Normans were a marvelous bunch. It's easy to look at the Norman Conquest and conclude that it was hardly a great feat, consisting of only one major battle (the famed Battle of Hastings) and a bit of rebellion-crushing in the North of England. Consider this though: Before the Norman Conquest, England was in a state of anarchy that had existed for nearly two centuries. Parts of the country were ruled by Denmark, parts by the Anglo-Saxons, with the fuzzy borders between the two areas effectively creating a constant state of light warfare between the two. The Anglo-Saxon royal family was hardly stable as well, with dynasty after dynasty going extinct and causing one civil war after another. After the Norman Conquest however, England gained a level of political stability not seen since the Romans left, vastly expanded its borders to include most of Wales and much of Ireland, went on crusade, and expanded its economy no end, ultimately becoming the wool capital (and wool was a very important resource at the time) of Europe.

With such a revolution in military and economic strength going on just after the Normans took over in London, it should come as no surprise that after enough time had passed, England truly felt itself equal to the great continental powers of Europe. England famously fought France in the Hundred Years' War, and for the longest part of those hundred years, England was winning. Through the signing of the Magna Carta, England became the first Constitutional Monarchy in the world, and by sponsoring expansion of the Hanseatic League into English ports, the trend was set for the English mercantilism that would later become key to its dominant position in the world.

Many of these aspects of medieval England are represented in the English civilisation in K&B. The most striking thing about our English civ is that rather than just England, they are in fact a combination of England and Wales. Barring a few short-lived Welsh revolts, England and Wales were completely intertwined with each other, being of mutual economic and military benefit. Wales continued to have its own distinct Celtic character however, and as such the English civ in K&B has a certain Celtic character as well, notably in some of the English unique units. The English are primarily an economic booming civ, with a hefty reliance on Sheep, representing the importance that wool exports played in their history. Militarily, the English would be fairly standard fare were it not for their Archers. English Archers are, without a doubt, the best Archers in the mod, and as such, they will form the cornerstone of any decent English army in K&B.

Next week we'll talk more about the economy of the English, which means we'll be talking about Sheep and very little else. Blèh!


This week Guilherme Sommer gets to be on the receiving end of our fan shoutout, for managing to correctly guess the names of all three polearms we posted on Facebook the other day to be an atgeir, a bill and a voulge respectively, with barely any help. As we continue our series on Friday Updates about the English, you might soon see the bill being used by an actual unit...